


Even Then

by TheRedWulf



Series: Stansa One Shots [31]
Category: A Song of Ice and Fire & Related Fandoms, A Song of Ice and Fire - George R. R. Martin, Game of Thrones (TV)
Genre: Admiration, Alternate Universe - Arranged Marriage, Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Arranged Marriage, Cute, F/M, Fluff, Fuck Canon, Married Couple, Wedding, Wedding Feast, canon AU, stansa
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-03-20
Updated: 2020-03-20
Packaged: 2021-02-28 19:41:49
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,000
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23222692
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/TheRedWulf/pseuds/TheRedWulf
Summary: AU - Canon - In which Stannis marries Sansa at Winterfell...Picset is viewableHERE
Relationships: Stannis Baratheon & Sansa Stark, Stannis Baratheon/Sansa Stark
Series: Stansa One Shots [31]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1405915
Comments: 24
Kudos: 174





	Even Then

**Author's Note:**

> Another quick piece for the 1,000 Words or less challenge! Oh look, another canon au... _nervous laughter_...
> 
> Canon is dead, deader than Caesar...
> 
> A reminder, this series is where I challenge myself (and limit myself) to write 1,000 word or less vignettes. This is turning out to be more difficult than I had anticipated, as I tend to ramble on. This series will include multiple pairings, universes etc., and allow me to write little scene drabbles as they come to mind. I will do my best to create photo-sets for each vignette, so hopefully you enjoy them.
> 
> I fiddle with their ages, as usual. Stannis is aged down a bit, Sansa aged up.

It was an odd thing, to meet your wife for the first time the moment she took your hands at the Heart Tree--at their wedding. In this case it was likely for the best, as Stannis was not sure he would not have been able to form words not repeated for him. 

He’d been told Lady Sansa Stark’s beauty had surpassed her Mother’s. Been told she was a most proper Lady, well educated and well spoken. He had even been told that she was graceful--if taller than was fashionable. 

However, he had not been told that her hair shined like fire in the afternoon sun. That her porcelain skin was unblemished and looked to be as smooth as silk. That her tall figure was slender and the way her wedding dress hugged her curves immediately inspired a wide array of sexual fantasies, each one more depraved than the last.

He had married a vision of perfection, there was no doubt about that, and he wondered what great deed he had performed that had brought him such a treasure. 

He was no rich king or golden beauty, he frowned more often than not and he knew that his rigid adherence to law and duty had not served in earning him many friends in the past. He did not have much to recommend him aside from his victories during Robert’s rebellion and the sprawling Targaryen estate that he now called ‘home’. 

And yet he was now a married man, his wife so far above anything that he had been expected to receive. 

“Lord Stannis” Lord Stark spoke above the din of Winterfell’s Great Hall. 

“Yes?” 

“I know much of your true nature,” Stark began. “I’ve fought alongside you long enough to know that you’re an honorable man, not prone to Robert’s licentious behavior. All I ask is that you’re good to her.” 

“Lord Stark” Stannis countered. “I am nothing like my Brother, as you well know, and I am insulted that you would think I would be anything less than good to your daughter--my wife.” 

“I meant no offense--”

“And yet you have offended” Stannis fixed the Warden of the North with a hard glare. “Why give me her hand in marriage if you believe me to be lacking? Why agree to the match at all?” 

Ned raised his hands in supplication, “There is a drastic shortage of good men in this world, Stannis. Robert asked after Sansa for his eldest boy, as Olenna Tyrell did for Willas, but I refused them both along with several other Northern offers. I know you to be a good man, honorable and loyal. She deserves a man who will protect her, who will be good to her.” 

“And I will” Stannis looked across the Great Hall to where Sansa stood with her Lady Mother, both of them talking softly near the fireplace. Sansa’s wedding cloak had been set aside which left her in the gown of black and gold, colors to honor her new house. Her hair glowed in the light of the flames and made her skin glow. It was true that her beauty had far surpassed her Mother’s. In truth, it had surpassed any he had ever seen. 

“She deserves a man who looks at her just like that” Ned commented and Stannis looked back to the Warden of the North, knowing that embarrassment was written across his features. “Any man can look at a beautiful woman, but it is rare when only appreciation shines in their eyes and not lascivious intentions.” 

Stannis was saved from having to reply by the appearance of Sansa and Lady Stark. Sansa moved shyly to his side and took his arm, her touch still uncertain. After all, they had only known each other a few hours and had been wed just as long. 

They spoke for several moments, then Lady Stark escorted her husband away for some pressing conversation that awaited, leaving him alone with his bride for the first time. Though they were in a crowded room, he saw none but her. 

“I asked my Mother to steal my Father away so that we may speak,” Sansa said softly. For a maid of twenty, she was very well spoken.

“Oh?” he prompted, sure that his eyebrows had raised in surprise.

“I wanted to ask you, before it becomes a public spectacle, that we forgo a bedding ceremony” her cheeks flushed with her words, the look most becoming. “I have no wish to be manhandled and I am already quite nervous about...about tonight.” 

“There is no need to be nervous” he assured her, raising a hand to trace the backs of his fingers across her cheekbone. She did not flinch or move away, but she still held a maiden’s uncertainty in her eyes. “I will not let them touch you, and I will do my best not to hurt you” he promised. 

“Thank you, Stannis,” his name passed from her lips for the first time. 

“There is no need to thank me” he replied. “As your husband, it is my honor to protect you.” She smiled at that, a shy one but it was still genuine and it made his lips curve in response. The expression gave him hope for their marriage and for their joined futures. 

“I believe that is something that you should be thanked for” she reasoned. “Not all men are inclined to think that way and I am grateful that you do. My Father promised me someone brave, gentle and kind, I believe that he has fulfilled that promise.” 

“You’re a woman, not a possession” Stannis assured her. “I will keep you safe, Sansa, always.” 

“Even in the Long Winter?” she asked, shifting closer to his side, something he took as a good sign. Her skirts brushed his boots, her silken hair falling over their arms, tickling his fingers. Closeness was something he was not familiar with, but he enjoyed her molded to his side.

“Even then” he promised.

**Author's Note:**

> Thank you for reading!
> 
> Follow me on tumblr for pic sets and more shenanigans!  
> @the-red-wulf or https://the-red-wulf.tumblr.com/


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